Council agrees funding to reopen leisure facilities and calls on Sencio to hand back leases

Press Release

05 April 2023

Sevenoaks District Council has taken another step towards reopening Edenbridge and Sevenoaks Leisure Centres and Lullingstone Park Golf Course after their operator, Sencio Community Leisure, recently ceased trading.

At a specially convened meeting of the Council last night (Tuesday 4 April 2023), Councillors agreed to start the process of appointing a new interim leisure provider to run the facilities for up to two years together with nearly £2 million of borrowing. Council also agreed to investigate why Sencio ceased trading and what lessons can be learnt for future leisure contracts.

In parallel, the Council has been working with Sencio and its insolvency practitioner, Evelyn Partners, to regain possession of the leisure sites as soon as possible.

Despite ongoing discussions with the Sencio Board of Trustees, Sencio is yet to surrender the leases and return the keys to the Council as the owner of the properties. Last week, deeds of surrender for the leases was shared with Sencio’s Chief Executive and Chair of the Board. However they have not returned a signed copy at this time.

The Council is now progressing its legal options to regain possession of the leisure sites from Sencio for failing to comply with a number of the lease conditions.

Sencio and its insolvency practitioner, Evelyn Partners, has also chosen not to hold its meeting to go into liquidation until mid-April, nearly a month after closing the doors. This will delay Government funded backdated pay and redundancy payments to Sencio staff.

Sarah Robson, the Council’s Chief Officer for People and Places, says: “While it’s positive news we have agreed funding and the process for appointing a new leisure provider, we are deeply disappointed and frustrated by the lack of urgency on the part of Sencio to return the leases.

“All the time the facilities remain closed and Sencio prolongs the surrender of its leases, it could slow down our plans to reopen the sites and will impact our communities who want to use the facilities as well as small businesses that depend on them for a living.

“We believe the Sencio Board has a duty to all our residents and local businesses to surrender the leases with immediate effect so we can move forward with our plans to reopen the leisure sites with a new operator as soon as possible.”

For the latest news on the reopening of the leisure facilities, visit www.sevenoaks.gov.uk/leisure.

Issued by: Daniel Whitmarsh, Communication and Consultation Manager

Call: 01732 227414
e-mail: daniel.whitmarsh@sevenoaks.gov.uk